The present invention relates generally to computer-implemented digital messaging. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for communicating consumer-oriented information to customers in a retail environment via a computerized network system.
For marketing groups and corporate retailers, the media advertising planning process is not an easy one. Numerous marketing channels are available to choose from and include mass media such as television, newspapers, radio, and magazines, as well as out-of-the-home media such as outdoor and transit advertising, and electronic billboards. Additionally, support media such as direct marketing, interactive media, promotional products advertising, and in-store point-of-purchase options are also available options for consideration. Selecting from these choices of media is cumbersome, in part due to the nature of the media themselves. Each media channel has its own advantages and disadvantages. TV features both sight and sound, unlike most other media. Although TV offers greater coverage capabilities, those capabilities may be offset by its expense and intrusive ‘push’-type nature. Viewers, in other words, are captive audiences of advertisements and must take active measures to avoid them, e.g., changing channels. It is also a nonselective medium, as it is difficult to reach a precisely defined market segment. This is likely due to changing variations in the composition of audiences due to variables such as program content, broadcast time, and geographic coverage. Buying air time on a TV program does not guarantee a product's exposure but merely provides an opportunity to communicate a message to large numbers of consumers. But there is increasing evidence that the size of the viewing audience shrinks during a commercial break. Thus, getting consumers to pay attention to commercials has become a greater challenge. The increased presence of VCRs and remote controls has led to the problems of zipping (i.e., fast forwarding through commercials during the playing of a previously recorded program), or zapping (i.e., the changing channels to avoid commercials). Measuring the effectiveness of a television advertisement on the sale of a product can also be problematic for the product's marketing group.
Advertising by radio offers a low cost alternative to television. It requires only a script to be read by the radio announcer or a pre-recorded message to be aired. Air time is also inexpensive to purchase. Radio, however, has creative limitations owing to the absence of a visual image. The brief, fleeting nature of the radio commercial, as well as the fragmented composition of the radio audience, are also problematic. Much like it's television counterpart, measuring the effectiveness of a radio advertisement can also be difficult. Audience rating services such as Arbitron™ for local radio audiences and RADAR™ studies for network audiences are sources of ratings information.
Magazine advertising has the capability to convey more information and keep that information available to a consumer for a long time, unlike a newspaper alternative which is typically thrown away after it has been read. One advantage of magazine advertising is its selective audience targeting. For example, it comes as no surprise that a magazine such as Modern Photography™ would be a suitable medium for the likes of Nikon™, Polaroid™, and Canon™ for advertising their cameras and equipment. Disadvantages of magazine advertising include high cost and limited audience reach and frequency. That is, while many people read one or more consumer magazines each month, studies indicate the percentage of adults reading any individual publication tends to be much smaller, resulting in a thin penetration of households. Newspapers also offer advantages, as do outdoor and direct media. Each of these alternatives must be carefully considered, along with many other factors. This process becomes even more complicated when the advertiser is faced with selecting between alternatives within the same medium, (e.g., Time™ and Newsweek™). The product and/or service being advertised also affects the media planning process. Businesses have found some media more useful than others in conveying their messages to specific target audiences. Marketing budgets and availability of sales measurements also affect these decisions.
Interactive media such as Internet, online services, kiosks, and interactive TV are becoming increasingly utilized and present some significant advantages over the traditional ‘passive’ channels. Interactive media allows the consumer to literally interact with the source, offering targeted specific market segments, as well as direct dealings with a user. Interactive media are providing new ways of getting messages out to the public. Digital signage companies are beginning to pop up, taking advantage of the lowering costs of technology and widespread use of the Internet by the public in general. Digital signage messaging enables variable, point-of-use information, targeted for a selected audience.
Digital signage companies currently operating in the market today are primarily designed around a business model that targets captive audiences (e.g., visitors waiting in line, in an elevator, in a waiting room, on an exercise bike, etc.). For example, Netpulse™ provides digital messaging services to health clubs via displays such as those found on a treadmill. Information provided may include health and dieting tips, as well as information targeted to the type of individuals likely to be using that treadmill. The value proposition to the viewer is not so much to inform as it is to entertain, i.e. to make the wait more tolerable. In exchange for a more tolerable wait, the viewer ‘agrees’ to watch advertising. Thus, the business model currently used is a ‘push’ advertising model—an audience that, even if they are receptive to the advertising, cannot act on the message (since they are preparing to leave the store, are stuck in an elevator, waiting for a doctor, etc.).
It would therefore be desirable to provide a digital messaging service at a point of purchase location, that is designed to pull in a viewing audience and which provides customizable and interactive capabilities.